The only two specific places mentioned in the song, and they're more in VA than in WV - barely within the eastern panhandle. Remember, there's more to WV than mountains, but of course those parts aren't worth singing about, so whatever.

The only two specific places mentioned in the song, and they're more in VA than in WV - barely within the eastern panhandle. Remember, there's more to WV than mountains, but of course those parts aren't worth singing about, so whatever.

Agreed, agreed. That's bothered me for a bit. He should be singing "western Virginia" instead, but maybe the extra syllable threw off the flow of the song.

Sigh...too bad the local authorities drove out the All Good Festival from Masontown. I prefer that location to the new one (though getting onto the highway as soon as you leave the campground is nice).

Doesn't really bother me much that it's not on some list kept by some old man in Charleston. Everyone with some connection to the state already uses it as one anyway. I had to raise my beer in Jamaica when a native folk band started playing it Jamaican mento style.

ComicBookGuy:Sigh...too bad the local authorities drove out the All Good Festival from Masontown. I prefer that location to the new one (though getting onto the highway as soon as you leave the campground is nice).

I'm sure you'll enlighten us with why the hell you would think one thing has to do with the other.

OtherLittleGuy:HotIgneous Intruder: The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River are in Virginia, not West Virginia.John Denver liked his Rocky Mountain high, but he wasn't a genius when it came to geography.

What do you expect? He came from the East Side of Chicago.

I thought it was the south side of Chicago?Actually, he was a military brat born in Roswell, NM, where his dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He moved all around in his childhood and chose the name Denver because Colorado was his favorite state.

dentalhilljack:Doesn't really bother me much that it's not on some list kept by some old man in Charleston. Everyone with some connection to the state already uses it as one anyway. I had to raise my beer in Jamaica when a native folk band started playing it Jamaican mento style.

HotIgneous Intruder:OtherLittleGuy: HotIgneous Intruder: The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River are in Virginia, not West Virginia.John Denver liked his Rocky Mountain high, but he wasn't a genius when it came to geography.

What do you expect? He came from the East Side of Chicago.

I thought it was the south side of Chicago?Actually, he was a military brat born in Roswell, NM, where his dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He moved all around in his childhood and chose the name Denver because Colorado was his favorite state.

The joke is that there is no East Side of Chicago. (Just like there is no South Detroit.)

When John Denver's plane went down, my brother walked in the room and announced, "Wow, Bob Denver died...," to which my dad replied, "Noooo! Not little buddy!" Years later, when Bob Denver actually did pass away, I made a point of letting my dad know -- told him to sit down, prepare himself -- and he more or less didn't care.

JosephFinn:HotIgneous Intruder: OtherLittleGuy: HotIgneous Intruder: The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River are in Virginia, not West Virginia.John Denver liked his Rocky Mountain high, but he wasn't a genius when it came to geography.

What do you expect? He came from the East Side of Chicago.

I thought it was the south side of Chicago?Actually, he was a military brat born in Roswell, NM, where his dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He moved all around in his childhood and chose the name Denver because Colorado was his favorite state.

The joke is that there is no East Side of Chicago. (Just like there is no South Detroit.)

The only two specific places mentioned in the song, and they're more in VA than in WV - barely within the eastern panhandle. Remember, there's more to WV than mountains, but of course those parts aren't worth singing about, so whatever.

JosephFinn:HotIgneous Intruder: OtherLittleGuy: HotIgneous Intruder: The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River are in Virginia, not West Virginia.John Denver liked his Rocky Mountain high, but he wasn't a genius when it came to geography.

What do you expect? He came from the East Side of Chicago.

I thought it was the south side of Chicago?Actually, he was a military brat born in Roswell, NM, where his dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He moved all around in his childhood and chose the name Denver because Colorado was his favorite state.

The joke is that there is no East Side of Chicago. (Just like there is no South Detroit.)

Bullshiat. Their boundaries are defined by two-dimensional planes, ergo they must have a north, west, east and south side.

B.L.Z. Bub:JosephFinn: HotIgneous Intruder: OtherLittleGuy: HotIgneous Intruder: The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River are in Virginia, not West Virginia.John Denver liked his Rocky Mountain high, but he wasn't a genius when it came to geography.

What do you expect? He came from the East Side of Chicago.

I thought it was the south side of Chicago?Actually, he was a military brat born in Roswell, NM, where his dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He moved all around in his childhood and chose the name Denver because Colorado was his favorite state.

The joke is that there is no East Side of Chicago. (Just like there is no South Detroit.)

Bullshiat. Their boundaries are defined by two-dimensional planes, ergo they must have a north, west, east and south side.

jaytkay:B.L.Z. Bub: JosephFinn: HotIgneous Intruder: OtherLittleGuy: HotIgneous Intruder: The Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River are in Virginia, not West Virginia.John Denver liked his Rocky Mountain high, but he wasn't a genius when it came to geography.

What do you expect? He came from the East Side of Chicago.

I thought it was the south side of Chicago?Actually, he was a military brat born in Roswell, NM, where his dad was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. He moved all around in his childhood and chose the name Denver because Colorado was his favorite state.

The joke is that there is no East Side of Chicago. (Just like there is no South Detroit.)

Bullshiat. Their boundaries are defined by two-dimensional planes, ergo they must have a north, west, east and south side.

Come to Chicago and as for directions to the East side.

Go to Detroit and ask for directions to the South side.

Bring a swimsuit and snorkel.

The fact that a lake is adjacent to a city does not mean that that side of the city ceases to exist. Here's a crude map to illustrate, with the sides helpfully labelled for you.

Look at that! There's a lake on the east side, yet the east side still exists!

B.L.Z. Bub:jaytkay: B.L.Z. Bub: The fact that a lake is adjacent to a city does not mean that that side of the city ceases to exist. Here's a crude map to illustrate, with the sides helpfully labelled for you.

Do you lecture people if they "incorrectly" mention that the 21st century started Jan 1, 2000?

jaytkay:B.L.Z. Bub: jaytkay: B.L.Z. Bub: The fact that a lake is adjacent to a city does not mean that that side of the city ceases to exist. Here's a crude map to illustrate, with the sides helpfully labelled for you.

Do you lecture people if they "incorrectly" mention that the 21st century started Jan 1, 2000?

Do you loudly correct people who call a tomato a vegetable?

/ My guess is yes

In other words, you're admitting I'm right?

Go be a pedantic bore somewhere else.

The irony is that this discussion came about because someone (NOT ME) decided to be a pedantic bore about the lyrics in "Country Roads" technically not referring to West Virginia.

Country Roads can only describe one (the eastern-most) county in West Virginia: Jefferson County, which has both the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Mountains in it. And it was inspired by the country roads in a then-much-more rural Montgomery County, Maryland.

And the West Virginia legislature has tried to do this before, but if I remember correctly, it was voted down because John Denver would sometimes sing the Rocky Mountain version and that offended some legislators.

B.L.Z. Bub:Look at that! There's a lake on the east side, yet the east side still exists!

If the city center abuts the lake, then there will be no geographically distinct area on land to be called "East". If you wanted to be a pedatic bore, you could assert that there will always be a point on land that people will consider the center of the city, and everything east of that point could be called "eastern", but that still would not change the sociological reality that no one in the city would refer to any part of the city as "East".